A WWI Biplane and a Jackass (The Four-Legged Kind!)

RAY: This is from my back-to-school series.

On Tommy's most recent departure from his senses, he bought himself a WW1 vintage biplane, the kind he flew when he was a boy. His purpose was to fly this plane from One Horse, Nevada, to the nearest town, distance and name unknown.

Now this paragon of aeronautical engineering can fly twenty times faster than Tommy can walk. So he takes off and starts flying. When he reaches the halfway point, he lands the plane. And, get this, he sees a guy walking with a jackass.

Tommy says, 'You can have the plane, give me the jackass.' Even though the jackass can travel only half as fast as Tommy can walk, Tommy completes the journey on the jackass, with his fine Italian loafers never touching the ground.

Here's the question: If Tommy had traveled the whole distance on foot, no plane, no jackass, would this odyssey from One Horse have taken less time, more time or the same amount of time?